HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Sumner County daycare owner has turned the story of Ed the zebra's Middle Tennessee adventure into a children's book, preserving the tale of the wandering zebra for young readers.
"It's really funny because I just kind of babbled it into my phone and saved it as a speech to text," said Stevie Kimbrough, who runs a daycare in Hendersonville.
Just a few weeks ago, Kimbrough released a children's book chronicling Ed's journey through Middle Tennessee.
The daycare operator says her work with children has given her storytelling skills that came in handy for this project.
"I kind of just have this natural ability to create a really fast story for them," Kimbrough said. "I really wanted to get this story out to children."
Ed (or Zeke, as some called him) captivated the region with his escape and subsequent adventures – from wandering through neighborhoods to being spotted from Sky5 before his safe return home.
Kimbrough recognized that the zebra's adventure made perfect material for a children's book.
"And I was just like – this would be an amazing story right now," she said.
After creating her initial draft using voice-to-text, Kimbrough refined the story and turned to modern technology for the illustrations.
"I created them with AI and canva," Kimbrough said. "And I described it as you know to make this look like a cartoon."
The book, titled "Ed the Zebra's Wild Vacation," became reality through Amazon's direct publishing feature.
"It's print on demand so once someone orders, they print it," she explained.
Kimbrough hopes her book will spark imagination and curiosity in young readers.
"Do what you love. Do what makes you happy. Don't worry about what anybody else thinks. And go for it," she said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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